Founder of the Social Media Escape Club
Years ago, I was intrigued by Spotify’s Car Thing. They stopped selling them soon after they announced them, and now, just two years later, they’re going to brick them. Yeah, just toss ’em. Throw it out. It’s junk now.
What a horrible move, but one that could be expected from such a shit company.
Today’s my 48th birthday – glad I started running 8 years ago! Happy to still be moving these bones up and over the Appalachian trail mountain and spending time with all the trees and birds – I even saw a kitty!
For some reason I’ve left my phone on the roof of my car lately. One time I drove 15 miles on the highway and when I got out of my car, my phone was there on the roof.
The other night, though, I realized I didn’t have my phone, a few miles from the location above in the video. I drove back, and thankfully a kind gentleman had found it intact, in complete working order. It did call 911, however, to report an accident. He was able to talk to the 911 operator, and assured them there was no car wreck at this location. Technology, huh?
Making the video above was a fun one. I didn’t know that the sun would peek out like that, but thankfully it did.
Bringing my camera equipment on my running adventures is fun because when I have a “meh” kind of run (like I did tonight), I can still take a stroll along the lake and try and capture the sounds of nature.
This is my set up; a Nikon Z30 and a Zoom H6. Both are just pretty much at their default settings, as I’m still figuring out how best to do any of his.
I’m sure at some point I’ll get into the finer points of manual controls with video. Maybe a shotgun mic at some point? At least a wind cover. I’m okay with the audio edits I’m able to make in Davinci Resolve, at least.
For now this is another thing that keeps me in the woods longer, and I’m quite okay with that.
I love being in the woods. Usually I just take a bunch of photos with my iPhone and send them to a friends afterwards, but now I’m enjoying making some chill-vibes videos like this.
I’m hauling a real camera (Nikon Z30), a tripod, and a Zoom H6 audio recorder with me to capture these moments. I mean, to be able to capture the sounds of the birds? The movement of the creek? Oh my, I love it so much.
I’ve made a few so far and got more to learn, of course, but I’m enjoying the process.
I planned on visiting one park, but the highway was closed off, so I just kept driving. Eventually, I saw a hill and some fog, so I drove towards the fog and found this park.
It was wet, cold, and gross, perfect for keeping other people away.
I’m also a sucker for views without much of a view. Overcast sheets of nothing are good for my soul.
Tell me you don’t care about people with mobility issues without telling me you don’t care about people with mobility issues.
I just don’t get how businesses and municipalities are okay with this. Forcing anyone with a mobility issue to have to leave the side walk and go into the road.
Oh, and what if there are cars parked there? Then what?
The biggest benefit of deleting your social media accounts is having more time for adventures. This includes the planning and doing and the editing (this image is a still from the video I shot).
It reminds me of when Merlin Mann got out of the productivity game, with stepping away from 43 Folders.
I’m pretty sure, if I remember correctly, he said something at the time like, “yeah, we’re being so productive, but what we making?”
Getting off of social media is great, but then what?
Minimalism was a thing for me in 2009.
I loved the idea of owning “just enough.”
I also remember all the questions, the naysayers, the “yeah, buts.” A lot of people in the replies asking about the best lightweight shirt, or how many socks to own.
But there comes a time when the questions are a stall tactic.
There’s a time to do your research, sure. Buying anything for $1,000, it pays to look at some reviews and YouTube videos, but at some point, you’ve got to make a move, which then puts you on the hook.
When I hit the road as a bike nerd in 2010, I heard some naysayers on a bike forum or two (the internet was much smaller back then), but fuuuuck off, I was living my dream while you were posting comments on the internet.
Did I do everything right? Nope. Did I post some pompeous shit? Hell yeah, I did.
I did stuff and learned from it, a constant cycle of learning, figuring things out, adapting, and getting to the next challenge, writing the next chapter.
The online chatter is noise, and the noise goes away when you build up a nice strong sense of self by doing whatever the fuck it is you want to do.
Spent the afternoon trying to make some shots of me “ascending” into the heavens, as part of my Social Media Escape Club newsletter series.
I’m happy I got something to work with, and think I did okay for my first time really trying to “make” a photo.
